Horton Hatches the Egg: A Midquel?
by MWolfL
Summary: Mayzie has asked Horton to egg-sit for her, which results in Horton being stolen by humans! Can Ned, Jojo, and Cindy, with their new friend Gertrude, travel to the human land and bring Horton back without getting captured? HortonXGertrude
1. A New Visitor

A.N. I read about this cool play called _Seussical: The Musical_ which combined the stories of Horton Hears a Who with Horton Hatches the Egg along with Seuss characters from other stories...including Gertrude McFuzz, who becomes Horton's girlfriend in the play. This inspired me to write this story, which is going to be a midquel for my sequel Horton Hears a Who: Jojo's Future. What would that be called anyway? A sidquel?

A lone blue and green bird flew over the jungle of Nool. She was mostly blue, but with green feathers on her head, a green tail feather, and green wing feathers. Her name was Gertrude McFuzz, and she was traveling to find a new home. None of the previous forests suited her, either they had too many carnivores or were too depressing, or had some other sort of problem. However, Nool looked promising.

"Now this forest looks beautiful." Gertrude said to herself. "If nothing else I'll certainly stay here for a few days to rest up."

She flew down, and saw an elephant leading a group of kids and a kangaroo down a path. The kids were a hippo, a deer, a bird, a strange little yellow furred creature, and a little kangaroo, possibly the larger kangaroo's joey. She listened to the elephant talk for a while, and realized that he was the kids' teacher.

"Well kids, it's recess time so what game do you want to play?" The elephant asked.

"How about soccer?" The hippo suggested.

"Nah, hoof-ball." The deer shook his head.

"But you and Katie are the only ones with hooves." The bird protested.

"How about swimming?" The little kangaroo suggested.

"I can go for that." The hippo nodded.

"Okay, we'll go with Rudy's idea." The bird smiled.

The kids ran off towards the pond, the elephant and larger kangaroo following but slower.

"Hey kids, make room for me cause here I come!" The elephant called out, suddenly rushing ahead.

"Horton be careful!" The larger kangaroo called after him, trying to keep up.

The kids, now in the pond, scrambled for the other side as Horton prepared to jump in. He did, causing a tremendous wave that hit the larger kangaroo. It also hit Gertrude, who had flown closer to the group earlier.

Horton and the kids nervously looked towards the larger kangaroo.

"Er...sorry about that Jane." Horton rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Jane at first frowned sternly, and then smiled.

"Well, I guess I don't need a bath today after all." She joked.

Horton and the kids laughed. Jane laughed too.

"Whoa!" Gertrude landed on the ground, no longer able to fly since her wings were soaked. "What a wave!" She laughed.

Everyone else noticed her.

"Oh, I'm sorry are you okay miss...?" Horton hesitated.

"Gertrude, Gertrude McFuzz is the name." Gertrude smiled, shaking herself dry. "It's okay, I should have known better than to fly near a group that was planning to go swimming."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Gertrude, I'm Horton and this is Jane." Horton smiled back.

The rest of the kids introduced themselves too.

"Hi, nice to meet you all." Gertrude waved. "Say, is there a spare tree anywhere? I was thinking of resting in your forest for a while before moving on to find myself a home."

"There are plenty of spare trees, but why don't you make Nool your home?" Jane smiled. "We always have room for another friendly face."

"Gee, thanks. I really appreciate it."

"She can stay in one of the trees near my shack." Horton suggested. "I don't really have any neighbors, unless if you count Mayzie LaBird but she isn't always fun to talk to."

"Really? Why not?" Gertrude asked.

"She's vain and prefers singing about herself or admiring her feathers." Rudy explained.

"*Ugh*, I hate that type." Gertrude winced. "I had to deal with a few like that back where my parents live, that's why I left. Oh well, I can put up with one as opposed to a group so I would love to move in next to you."

"Great, I'll take you there." Horton started to lead the way.

"Oh, uh, Horton you did promise to take us to visit the Whos today remember?" Jane said.

"Oh, right," Horton realized. "Well, how about Gertrude joins us and then I'll lead her to her new home?"

"Sounds good."

"Who are the Whos?" Gertrude asked before looking staggered. "Whoa, was that question as weird as it sounded?"

"Nah, though it did sound a little amusing." Tommy chuckled.

"Horton and I will explain who the Whos are on the way to their home." Jane said.

And they did. Horton started, of course, and let Jane cut in now and then when she wanted a gentler description of the way she used to act. They described about how Horton heard a random Who call for help, ran about trying to save the speck the Whos were on, and managed to make contact with the mayor, Ned McDodd. They continued with how hard Horton worked to get the Whos to a safe place, and continued standing up for the Whos even after he was surrounded by a mob and caged up. After finishing that story they told Gertrude the story of helping Ned find Jojo and battling the WhoDevil. By the time they finished they had reached the flower where Whoville lay.

"Wow, that was amazing!" Gertrude looked at Horton admiringly.

"Aw, it was nothing." Horton smiled before turning to the speck. "Horton to Ned, Horton to Ned, come in Ned!"

"Very funny Horton." Ned's amused sounding voice came out of the speck. "Hang on, I'll turn the portal on."

A white rectangle appeared in front of them and Ned McDodd stepped out.

"Hi everyone!" Ned smiled.

Horton and his animal friends said hi back. Ned then noticed Gertrude.

"Well hello, who are you?" He smiled.

"Gertrude McFuzz, I'm a newcomer here." Gertrude smiled back. "So this is what a Who looks like."

"More or less, we actually come in a wide variety of styles and colors. Is it okay if I take Gertrude on a quick tour of Whoville?"

"Sure, at least to meet your family." Horton smiled back. "Later I'm going to show her to her new home."

"Okay."

Ned lead Gertrude and the others through the portal into Whoville and to his home. When they reached the front door Horton suddenly shrank more, startling Gertrude. Jane explained that Horton was too big to fit into the houses so the inventor of the portal, Dr. LaRue, added a feature that automatically shrank Horton further once he reached the front door of any house.

Fortunately, Ned's children were already home from school, as evidenced by the shouts coming from inside. Sally greeted them first.

"Hello Ned, home so soon?" She smiled.

"Oh this temporary, I just want to introduce a new friend of Horton's to the family." Ned explained. "Sally, this is Gertrude McFuzz."

"But you can just call me Gertrude, nice to meet you Sally." Gertrude raised a wing.

"Same here." Sally shook her wing. "Come on in, Cindy is here for a visit too."

Everyone entered and Gertrude was taken aback by the crowd of little Whos who ran up to Horton and greeted him enthusiastically.

"Whoa!" Horton laughed. "Hi girls, how are things going?"

The girls, Ned's daughters, randomly answered. A black and gray Who and a pink and blonde Who then showed up.

"Hi Rudy!" Jojo smiled.

"Jojo, how are things?" Rudy said as they bopped fists.

"Wonderful, but who can complain when you've got a great girlfriend?" Jojo chuckled.

"Oh Jojo." The pink and blonde Who, Cindy, laughed.

Jojo's sisters were then done greeting Horton, finally giving Jojo and Cindy a chance.

"Hello Horton." Cindy smiled.

"Hi Cindy." Horton smiled back.

"Hey Horton, who's this?" Jojo asked, noticing Gertrude.

Horton introduced her. Gertrude then explained that she was going to be living in Nool now.

"Sounds great." One of Jojo's sisters smiled.

Ned had to return to his duties, so Sally, Cindy, and the McDodd children took over showing Gertrude around Whoville.

Afterward, Horton and the others said good-bye to Cindy and the McDodd family, took a quick stop to say good-bye to Ned, and then headed back to Nool. It was late at that point so everyone headed for their respective homes to have dinner. Horton led Gertrude to where he lived, and showed her the various trees around his shack. Gertrude picked one that was the second one from the shack's right and built a quick nest. She would start to build a more elaborate home tomorrow. Horton shared his dinner with her and Morton, who came over to meet Gertrude, and the three of them talked until bedtime. Gertrude gazed at the asleep Horton before also falling asleep.

"_He's the kindest, the friendliest, the bravest, and most generous guy I had ever known._" She thought. "_Not to mention he's so much fun to hang out with and he's great with kids. I think...no...I know I'm in love with him._"


	2. Gertrude's Makeover

The next day, someone singing woke Gertrude up.

Oh I'm just the colors of the sunrise

And as lovely as can be

I am a treat to everyone's eyes

So everyone best look at me

"That must be Mayzie." Gertrude chuckled to herself; she yawned and stretched her wings. "I think I'll go see if Mayzie is as friendly as she is vain."

Gertrude flew until she found a red and orange bird preening herself in front of a pink and red fancy birdhouse. This bird resembled Gertrude, except she was taller and curvier and her head feathers were longer. Her body was red, with orange wing feathers, orange head feathers and...Gertrude's smile dropped. The bird had eight beautiful orange tail feathers. Gertrude landed on a branch and sadly looked at her lone green tail feather.

"Hello there, you must be new around here." The red and orange bird called out in a melodious voice. "My name is Mayzie LaBird, but everyone calls me Mayzie."

"My name is Gertrude McFuzz, but everyone calls me Gertrude." Gertrude's smile came back as she turned to Mayzie, who smiled at her in a friendly way.

They both laughed. Gertrude then flew closer to Mayzie.

"So you're Mayzie, Horton's other neighbor?" Gertrude said.

"Yes, I'm not surprised you've heard of me." Mayzie smiled. "Oh, you know Horton?"

"Uh-huh, he was one of the first animals I met yesterday." Gertrude explained. "I just moved in and I'm thinking of becoming a permanent resident here."

"Wonderful, I don't have any bird friends nearby so I would love for us to be friends."

"Okay, at least you're friendlier than these pretty birds that lived in my old home-jungle." Gertrude nodded.

"Friendlier?" Mayzie was confused.

"Yeah, they would always shun me or make fun of me." Gertrude's smile faded again.

"It, uh, wouldn't have anything to do with..." Mayzie hesitated.

"My one-feather tail? Yeah." Gertrude nodded sadly. "I'd rather not go into the specifics."

"Of course not, and don't you mind them either. A nasty personality can do harm to your outward appearance, that's what my mom always taught me."

"I'm glad." Gertrude smiled. "Say, I still need to build my house, do you want to help me?"

"Of course my dear, helping others makes you feel good and when you feel good you look good." Mayzie smiled back.

They flew off together to get supplies, and started to build Gertrude's house. It was similar to Mayzie's house, except it was blue and purple colored and not as fancy. Thanks to Mayzie's help they finished quicker than Gertrude would have if she did the whole thing by herself. By the time they finished it was lunchtime, and Horton had come back.

"Hi girls," Horton smiled, seeing Gertrude and Mayzie have tea on Gertrude's new patio. "Wow, Gertrude that's a beautiful house."

"Thank you Horton, Mayzie helped me build it." Gertrude smiled, flattered.

"Anything for a friend." Mayzie smiled. "Now if you'll excuse me it is time for my afternoon flight. Have to stay in shape you know."

"Of course, and thank you for your help."

"Anytime darling. Good-bye Gertrude, Horton."

Mayzie flew away.

"Say Horton, is it all right if I join you for lunch? I haven't gotten all my food supplies yet." Gertrude asked.

"I would be delighted, a meal tastes better when you share it with a friend." Horton smiled.

And they ate.

Time passed, and Gertrude ended up having the most fun she ever had. She and Mayzie hung out often, and sometimes Gertrude would even join her on her flights. Even though Mayzie talked about herself or about appearances in general a lot - which Gertrude quickly got tired of, but she put up with it - she proved to be a great friend and supportive as well. One day she caught Gertrude gazing at Horton and talked to her about it.

"You really like Horton don't you?" Mayzie guessed.

"Huh? Oh hi Mayzie." Gertrude said, turning around; then she blushed. "Yeah, I mean he's such a great guy and..."

"I know, and I don't blame you, but he is an elephant and you are a bird. Do you think it will work out?" Mayzie said with a concerned tone.

"I don't know...I hope so." Gertrude sighed.

"Well, maybe if you spruce yourself up a bit." Mayzie thought out loud. "Let me help, I love giving makeovers and rarely get to do it to someone besides myself!"

"Okay, just make sure I still stay recognizable."

"Of course. What would you like to makeover first?"

"My tail, obviously. I think the rest of me is okay the way it is"

"That it is, but you're right about your tail. Not that it's ugly or anything, it just doesn't stand out very well. Well, come on over to my place and I'll see what I can do."

Gertrude followed Mayzie to her house. Gertrude first tried dyeing her tail feather purple, but it didn't make much of a difference. She then tried puffing it up but it looked like a rabbit's tail. Finally she tried curling it, and there she had to stop because the iron scorched her tail.

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait a couple weeks for a new feather to grow in." Mayzie shook her head.

"Okay." Gertrude sighed.

A couple weeks later Gertrude tried putting flowers in her new tail feather, but that unfortunately attracted bees. Luckily she was able to ditch the flowers before anything bad happened. Mayzie couldn't think of anything else at the moment, so Gertrude decided to take a break and try writing songs for Horton. She was a pretty good singer, not like Mayzie but certainly better than a crow, so she wrote quite a few songs. During that time Mayzie had decided to take a vacation for three weeks, but that didn't make Gertrude lonely She still hung out with Horton and Morton, and was now also friends with Jane and Rudy. Sometimes she visited Whoville with them, and became good friends with Sally and Cindy. Gertrude wasn't as good a song writer as she was a singer, so she took a break from that for a while.

One day she overheard a bird talking to her friends about how she grew three new feathers thanks to a pill berry bush from Dr. Dake, a doctor for birds. This gave Mayzie the idea to try it too. She went into Dr. Dake's treehouse and asked him for the pill berry bush. He refused at first because he only gave them to that other bird to help her fly better and Gertrude's species didn't need a lot of tail feathers to fly, but Gertrude threw a tantrum.

"Okay okay!" Dr. Dake said exasperatedly. "Just knock it off!"

Annoyed, he called for a nurse to bring in the pill berry bush. When the bush arrived Gertrude ate a few of the berries and grew four new feathers! They were a mix of blue, green, and purple. Gertrude was so excited that she started to quickly eat more of the berries.

"Whoa, slow down, you'll overdo it!" Dr. Dake warned her.

She didn't listen, and more beautiful feathers started to grow.

"Horton will certainly notice me now!" Gertrude smiled before flying away. "Thank you Dr. Dake!" She called over her shoulder.

"Poor girl, she's going to regret eating so many berries." Dr. Dake shook his head.

As Gertrude continued flying more feathers grew in and started to make her tail too heavy. When her tenth feather grew in she had to land on the ground, so she walked back home, holding her tail up like a peacock. By the time she made it home it was dinner time.

"Hello Horton." She smiled flirtingly.

"Oh, hello Gertrude, how was your day?" Horton smiled back.

"Wonderful, I feel like a new bird." Gertrude continued smiling. "Horton, do you notice anything different about me?"

"Um...oh yeah, your tail has more feathers." Horton smiled, but didn't look as if he returned Gertrude's love. "It looks nice, but it must be hard to fly with all those extra feathers."

"I can manage." Gertrude was crushed, Horton still didn't love her back.

"Say, do you want to join me for dinner?" Horton asked, not noticing Gertrude's hurt expression.

"Sure." Gertrude put on a false smile.

The next day, Mayzie returned home but looked exhausted. Gertrude saw her first and walked over.

"Partied hard didn't you?" Gertrude guessed.

"I sure did, and I met this nightingale who I thought was dashing but turned out to be a jerk." Mayzie frowned.

"Really? What did he do?"

"Well we...er...oh let's just say my child will never know his father." Mayzie scowled.

"What?" Gertrude gasped. "You mean...oh dear."

"Exactly, and to me of all birds! I'm not even the family type!" Mayzie wailed. "Now I'll have to spend months alone in a nest waiting for my egg to hatch!"

"Why...he really is a jerk!" Gertrude frowned. "I can't believe he abandoned you!"

"I know, it turns out he's not the family type either." Mayzie sobbed onto Gertrude's shoulder. "But unlike me he doesn't care what happens to the egg. As for me, well, I regret everything but I don't want the little one to die."

"Well you won't be alone, I'll help you." Gertrude smiled.

"Oh thank you, you're a true friend." Mayzie then took a closer look at Gertrude. "Why Gertrude, are those new tail feathers?"

"Yup, I took some pill berries yesterday."

"Why darling you look wonderful!"

"Thanks, but I don't feel wonderful." Now Gertrude looked as if she was going to cry.

"Why not?"

"Because...because Horton still hasn't fallen in love with me." Gertrude sniffled.

"Oh you poor thing." Mayzie said sympathetically.

"No, you're the poor thing. My problem isn't as great as yours."

"But of course it is, love is more important than partying." Mayzie comfortingly put a wing on Gertrude's shoulder. "There there, maybe Horton isn't ready for a relationship yet. Just you wait, one day the sunrise will shine on your feathers, Horton will see you glowing in the dawn's light, and cupid's arrow will strike his heart hard."

"You really think so?"

"But of course. Who knows, it might even happen tomorrow." Mayzie winked. "You just have to keep trying."

"And I will, thank you Mayzie."

"Anytime."

Mayzie went home and to built a nest on the opposite side of her tree.

The next morning, Gertrude woke up at dawn and went to a spot where the light would surely hit her feathers. She spread her tail, and waited for Horton to wake up. Horton often slept in, but when he planned big days he always got up at dawn. Fortunately, today was one of those days.

"Good morning Horton." Gertrude sang out.

"Huh? Oh, good morning Gertrude, you're up early this morning." Horton smiled.

"Well I thought I'd warm my feathers." Gertrude smoothed her head feathers. "Got a big day planned?"

"Oh yeah, I promised Ned we'd hang out today, but I also have class and want to take a long swim. I'd better get going, class starts in less than three hours."

"Okay, see you tonight."

"Bye."

Gertrude again was disappointed, and now confused because Horton seemed a little distant. There was a reason for that, as Horton revealed when he muttered to himself after being out of earshot of Gertrude.

"I think Mayzie has become a bad influence on Gertrude." Horton shook his head. "She was beautiful when she was herself but now she's just another feather head."

Gertrude, even though she didn't know about Horton's mutter, couldn't take it anymore. She went back to her house and cried on her bed. Now she knew that she truly loved Horton, because she felt like her heart was breaking.


	3. Mayzie's Plan Becomes Her Mistake

A couple weeks passed, and Mayzie also couldn't take it anymore, but a different kind of 'it'. Gertrude wasn't there, she was still moping inside and Mayzie knew how upset she was since she saw the dawn scene between Horton and Gertrude. So, she came up with an idea that would give her a break and later will allow Gertrude to hang out with Horton more.

"Horton!" Mayzie called down.

"Hi Mayzie, how are things going?" Horton waved with his trunk.

"Horrible, I can't stand sitting on this egg any longer." Mayzie groaned. "I even have bags under my eyes! Listen, can you be a dear and egg-sit for me while I take a break? I'd ask Gertrude but she's not feeling well right now."

"Uh...okay." Horton shrugged.

"Thank you thank you!" Mayzie suddenly flew off her nest. "I'll never forget this! You won't leave my egg will you?"

"No...not for anything." Horton promised.

Mayzie immediately flew away, knowing that once Gertrude recovered she would definitely help Horton out. That, hopefully, would help Horton return Gertrude's love.

Horton slowly got on the nest, being careful not to hurt the egg or tree. The branch did bend drastically, but fortunately was strong enough to support an elephant. He sat there for days and days.

Eventually Gertrude felt better to come back outside, but got a shock when she did. She rubbed her eyes, wondering if her pain was giving her hallucinations. It wasn't.

"Horton! What are you doing on Mayzie's nest?" Gertrude asked, walking over.

"She needed a break and asked me to egg-sit since you weren't feeling well. That was a little over a week ago." Horton explained.

Gertrude felt bad that she unintentionally caused Horton to wind up stuck on a nest.

"Do you need anything?" She asked.

"Well, I am hungry, if it isn't too much trouble..." Horton hesitated.

"None at all, be right back!" Gertrude left and came back with food.

And that's how it continued. Mayzie had unintentionally forgotten about her nest and egg and ended up taking a longer break than she had originally planned. Horton stayed on the egg for weeks, with Gertrude bringing him food and water. This soon spread to the rest of Nool, but only Morton, Jane, and Horton's class visited him. They were worried that the other Nool residents would laugh at Horton for being in a nest and they didn't want Horton's feelings to be hurt, so Jane forbid them from visiting Horton. Rudy told Ned and his family what had happened to Horton and they, with Cindy, visited now and then.

But only Gertrude really helped Horton. Morton helped often too, but not as much as she did. In fact Gertrude was rarely even home, she spent most of her time hanging out near Horton and waiting for him to need something. Horton was touched, but still a little distant since during her free time Gertrude preened her tail feathers or gazed at her reflection. One day Jane approached Horton.

"Horton, staying in a tree all this time can't be good for your health." Jane said, concerned. "Why don't you let a bird take over while you rest and get your strength back?"

"I'd be more than happy to take over." Gertrude added, overhearing.

"No, I promised Mayzie I wouldn't leave her egg for anything." Horton shook his head.

Jane opened her mouth to argue, but then shut it. She still remembered how stubborn Horton could be about his promises. In fact it was his stubbornness about the Whos that got him in trouble with the rest of the jungle. It was a good thing for him that he ended up right about Whoville. Gertrude looked at Horton sympathetically.

Time passed all the way to winter. Gertrude knitted a scarf for Horton, but it didn't do him much good, he still got sick so Gertrude had to fetch him medicine every so often. Near the spring thaw a thunderous sound echoed around the jungle, causing most animals to hide. Even Gertrude hid, but that was only because she was so frightened that she wasn't thinking straight. A few minutes later she heard voices, but was too frightened to really hear what they were saying. She then heard digging and more talking.

"Help!" Horton called.

Gertrude paled, realizing that she forgot about Horton. She ran back to him but it was too late, Horton, the nest, and the tree were gone! There was nothing but a hole left! She sobbed at the hole for a minute, and then rushed to tell Jane what had happened. Jane was horrified.

"Humans!" She realized. "Awful creatures, never respecting us or our homes. We must figure out a way to get Horton back!"

She called the animals into a meeting. Everyone was horrified about Horton's disappearance.

"Hey guys, I found this in a bush nearby! Maybe it will lead us to Horton!" Tommy called out.

He raised a pamphlet, but none of the animals could read it. At that moment Ned, Jojo, and Cindy arrived.

"What's going on?" Jojo asked.

Jane explained and gave Ned the pamphlet since she knew that Whos used words like humans.

"The circus!" Ned said. "That must be where they took Horton!"

"We should send a search party to find him." Cindy suggested. "I'll go."

"Me too." Jojo nodded.

"And certainly me, I owe Horton for saving us and helping us out with the WhoDevil." Ned added.

"Now hold on, the humans won't know what you are and might capture you for the circus too." Jane shook her head. "I'm afraid I cannot..."

"Wait, what if they disguised themselves?" Rudy said.

"Then it could work, but it still could be dangerous."

"I don't care." Ned said and Jojo and Cindy nodded in agreement. "But what could we disguise ourselves as?"

Rudy hopped away and then hooped back with some blue berries in his hands.

"As Wickersham Brothers." Rudy smiled.

"Genius!" Jojo smiled.

"Okay, then it's settled." Jane gave in. "These three Whos will get Horton back. I'll take over teaching the class until Horton's return."

"Hang on...can a bird fly over and tell Sally to take on my duties for me until I return?" Ned called out.

"I will." One bird raised his wing before flying away.

Ned, Jojo, and Cindy then started covering themselves in berry juice. When they were done they looked enough like Wickershams to fool non-experts.

"We'll be back as soon as possible with Horton." Ned promised.

"Wait!" Gertrude called out.

Everyone turned towards her.

"I want to come too." She said.

"What can you do? You can't fly anymore." Morton pointed out.

"Yes but I don't care...I love Horton."

Everyone dropped their mouths open. Until now Mayzie was the only one who really knew of Gertrude's feelings for Horton.

"So that's why you grew more tail feathers." Jojo realized.

"Yes, I was trying to win him over but it didn't work." Gertrude hung her head.

"That's because he doesn't care at all about physical appearances, he cares only about personality and character." Morton explained. "You've been going about it the wrong way."

"You mean..." Gertrude realized that she had been making a horrible mistake. "Well in that case, Rudy, pull out my extra tail feathers."

"Uh, are you...?" Rudy hesitated.

"I can't fly without all these feathers and I need to fly to help save Horton so do it!" Gertrude ordered.

Rudy reluctantly obliged. Gertrude clenched her teeth as each feather was pulled out, and was greatly relieved when it was over. She was also greatly relieved to be able to fly again.

"Hang on my love, I'm coming!" Gertrude declared as she started to fly away.

"Hey, Gertrude wait up!" Cindy called out, running after her.

Ned and Jojo rushed to catch up with them.

They ran for the shore, and then hid amongst the bushes when they saw humans and an ocean liner there. Unfortunately, Horton and the tree were nowhere in sight, indicating that they had been put onto another ship that had already left. Fortunately, from what they overheard the liner would be going to the same place as Horton's ship did. It was still daylight, so they decided to wait until nightfall.


	4. A Dangerous Journey

When nighttime came they quietly snuck onto the liner and down into the hold. They went to the far back, hoping that they would reach land before any of the sailors could notice them. The trip was rough, since they weren't used to traveling on the water, but they made it without any casualties. They then waited until nightfall again, and snuck onto shore. They continued sneaking around until they found some woods to hide in. Here they talked for the first time in weeks.

"Man, am I glad that part of the trip is over." Ned wiped his forehead with an arm.

"It's not over yet, we're going to have to figure out a way to get Horton onto one of those boats." Jojo pointed out.

Ned winced.

"Here's the plan," Gertrude said. "I'll fly ahead while keeping within your sight. That way I'll be able to spot the circus and you three can follow me there."

"Sounds good, we'll follow you through the woods until we reach the circus." Cindy agreed.

And so began another long journey. Ned, Jojo, and Cindy were really lucky, they stuck to either being up in the trees or in the shadows so no human ever spotted them. Gertrude wasn't so lucky, she had to deal with a few obstacles.

First, a hawk flew at her! She flew around and through the trees trying to ditch the hawk, but it was no use. The hawk struck her on the back, knocking her down! Fortunately, Ned was able to drive the hawk away by throwing sticks at it.

"Are you okay?" Jojo asked Gertrude.

"I'm, fine, it's just a scratch." Gertrude said before flying again.

That wasn't entirely true. I mean yes it was a scratch but it was a bad scratch. Still, she managed to continue flying despite the pain.

The four of them continued on, using conversations they overheard from various humans to navigate. Fortunately, it looked as if the circus was only a town away.

Another day, Gertrude stopped to rest and eat some berries, only to come across a mean dog! She tried to fly away but the dog bit her leg and pulled her down! Fortunately, the dog's master, a little boy, stopped the dog and scolded it, causing the dog to let go of Gertrude and shamefully head home. The boy was about to offer to take care of Gertrude's injuries, but she had already flown away. Ned, Jojo, and Cindy had to stay behind for a while until they were sure that the little boy wouldn't be able to see them. Because of that they almost lost Gertrude, but Cindy spotted her again after climbing a high tree. They were back on track.

Poor Gertrude hid it from the Whos, but she was exhausted and in a lot of pain from the traveling and the attacks. She didn't care though, finding Horton and bringing him home would be worth even losing her ability to fly (again).

Luckily, the next day they made it to the town that the circus was performing in. It was late at night, but the Whos needed their rest so they decided to get Horton the following night. Gertrude heard this, but continued on into the circus anyway. Once there she managed to find the animal tent, and saw Horton caged up and still on the tree. Even in sleep he looked miserable.

"Horton!" Gertrude gasped, ecstatic to see him again.

Startled, Horton woke up and looked toward the entrance.

"Gertrude!" He gasped, surprised to see her. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to rescue you of course, Ned, Jojo, and Cindy are in the woods waiting for tomorrow night so they can free you." Gertrude explained.

Horton was emotional.

"I thought no one would come to find me." He said, tearing up.

"Oh I wasn't going to stop until I found you." Gertrude smiled.

"Why?"

"Because...because I love you." Gertrude admitted. "I love you with all my heart."

Horton was very surprised.

"So that's why...with the tail feathers..." He realized.

"Yes, I was trying to win you over but I went with the wrong method." Gertrude hung her head. "So I had my extra tail feathers pulled out, so that I could come find you."

While they talked Gertrude went closer to the cage until she was inside it. She then flew up to Horton's trunk, who extended it for her. That's when he noticed:

"Gertrude! What happened to your leg?"

"Huh? Oh, a mean animal, a dog I think humans call it." Gertrude explained.

"You mean you continued flying to me even with a hurt leg?" Horton started to feel something...

"That's not all."

At that, Gertrude explained the whole story. By the time she finished Horton realized what he was feeling.

"All for you Horton, what I did was all for you." Gertrude finished talking. "And I would do even more if necessary."

Horton smiled.

"You have done more than enough." He said. "I love you too."

Gertrude started to shed tears of happiness. She then hugged his trunk and he gently wrapped the end of it around her body.

"Now, you should really get some rest, you've had a hard journey." Horton made a little nest out of his trunk.

Gertrude, without a word, happily nestled into it and fell asleep. Horton fell back asleep too.

The next day, the circus opened. Horton woke up first and woke Gertrude. She got the hint, and hid in the hay. During the day Gertrude was filled with anger and sympathy. The ringmaster had billed Horton as a freak, and all the customers laughed at Horton, whispered about Horton being weird, and teased or mocked him. Correction, not all, one woman looked at Horton with sadness and sympathy and looked at the other people with disgust. She had short black hair, and wore a white shirt and blue pants. The day continued on like that, until finally the circus closed and the animals were fed. Horton, to Gertrude's disgust, was fed birdseed.

"I can't believe those humans." She said, flying up to Horton after the humans left.

"Don't worry, the other animals are nice and share their food with me." Horton smiled.

Sure enough, some other elephants and some monkeys shared their fruit and peanuts with Horton. Gertrude ate the birdseed, as no one else was going to. Suddenly, she heard a sniffle and turned to find a tan female kangaroo. This was an Australian kangaroo, as the purple ones in that world were a rare African species.

"You were forced into the circus too?" Gertrude asked sympathetically.

"Yes, but even worse the circus will all be what my little joey knows." She sobbed.

A brown female joey around Rudy's age peered out of the pouch.

"Hello." She smiled.

"Hi." Gertrude smiled back.

They talked while Horton continued eating. It turned out that the little joey's name was Jess while her mom was called Sandy. When nighttime came along Ned, Jojo, and Cindy appeared. Horton was really happy to see them, especially Ned, and introduced them to the other animals.

"Now, how are we going to get you out of here?" Ned studied the cage.

"You're freeing him?" Sandy said. "Can you free us too please? I'm tired of performing and I don't want Jess to end up with the same life."

"Of course." Cindy nodded. "Now, it looks like we'll need the key, but where could it be?"

"Most likely with the ringmaster in his tent." Jess guessed.

"I'll get it." Jojo left.

There was a couple tense minutes as Jojo was gone. He reappeared with the keys, smiling triumphantly.

"Man can that ringmaster sleep, he didn't even hear the jingle of the keys when I removed them from his belt." Jojo chuckled.

Everyone was very relieved. Ned then immediately freed Horton, Sandy, and Jess. Since it was too risky to take the tree along it would have to be left behind, so Cindy offered to carry the egg for Horton. Normally Horton would have refused, but cause of the situation he agreed without a second thought. Cindy wrapped the egg in hay and a blanket and gently held it close to her chest. Everyone then got on Horton and left the circus. Fortunately, the gate keeper was a sound sleeper too, and Horton being a quiet tip-toer helped to prevent him from awakening. They then went into the woods, and started to make their journey to the docks. At one point Horton had to sleep, so he did and the others did too, except for the Whos. They took a nap during the day before they entered the circus grounds so the three of them took turns keeping watch.


	5. A Not So Dangerous Journey

The next day, everyone heard sirens and realized that the circus people had reported the disappearance of Horton. Sandy and Jess's disappearance was probably reported too, but compared to an elephant who sits in a tree it wasn't put at a high priority. Very fortunately, the part of the woods they were in was impossible to see through the trees. The entire day passed without anyone finding out where they were, as they didn't move for fear of attracting attention. Horton and the others even managed to get some sleep during that time since they all realized that they would have to travel at night. They did, and didn't meet with any trouble. This continued on, fortunately not for a long time as Horton was a fast traveler. In less than a week, they made it to the docks. Again they had to hid, and were now having trouble figuring out how to sneak onto one of the ships. Suddenly, that night, a human approached them from behind!

"I recognize you, you're the tree elephant from the circus."

They turned around, scared, to find the black haired woman they saw at the circus!

"Don't worry, I'm here to help. You see I hated how everyone was treating this elephant. Even though his behavior wasn't common it didn't mean that he deserved that treatment. After all, he is a creature with feelings." She smiled. "My name is Randy by the way. Well not really, it's a nickname, but my real name is a little too feminine. I own a ship and I'm going to use it to get all of you home. What do you say?"

All the animals and the Whos nodded happily.

"Great, follow me."

They followed Randy onto her ship, and she set sail before any of the other humans even noticed.

"Now, I know most of you are from Africa, but these two kangaroos are from Australia. Do you want me to go their first and drop you off?" Randy said to them as soon as the docks were out of sight.

Sandy and Jess talked to the others. It turned out that Sandy didn't know Australia very well, she was young when she was taken away. She did have a husband at the circus, that's where Jess came from, but he died during a boxing match the circus used to put on. This caused a riot, and the authorities threatened to close the circus unless they released the rest of their animals into the zoo. The circus partially agreed, but hid Sandy and Jess away in hopes that they could start anew with the animals. Then, after the publicity and everything died down, the circus started to collect more animals. To avoid trouble though, they never captured another kangaroo. Sandy decided that she and Jess should start a new life, and decided to stay with Horton and the others, so they shook their heads.

"Really?" Randy was surprised. "Well, I guess you don't want to be separated from your new friends. Okay, I guess you can live well enough in the jungle. I have heard of a rare species of kangaroo that lives in the African Jungles so they can help you if you need it."

They continued traveling, during which Randy found out the truth about the Whos. This proved to be a good thing, as not only did she accept it right away (despite being shocked at first) but it turned out that the Whos could speak both animal and human. Using the Whos as interpreters, Randy became the first person in her world to be able to talk to animals. You see the Whos were metaphorically part animal and part human, they were creatures that came from an alternate universe where it wasn't apes who became sapient (what animal the Whos could've come from though is beyond me). Randy became great friends with the animals and the Whos, and decided to be a frequent visitor to their home. She also decided to work on preventing more circus people from taking animals from that jungle. During the journey Horton and Gertrude fell more in love than ever.

They eventually reached the jungle, which was a welcome sight for Horton, Gertrude, and the Whos. Randy knew that the animals would want to see their friends again, so she let them run off once she docked onto shore.


	6. A New Family

It was a happy reunion, Morton, Jane, and Rudy hugged Horton and the McDodds and WhoHearts were there as well to welcome Ned, Jojo, and Cindy home. All the animals then cheered Gertrude, Ned, Jojo, and Cindy for the rescue of Horton. A party was set up almost automatically to celebrate.

Randy soon joined, and Horton introduced her to the others as the one who got them safely home over the ocean. After that it was like Randy had always been a part of the jungle. Soon, a familiar face arrived at Nool.

"Mayzie!" Horton gasped, seeing the red and orange bird.

Mayzie looked at the party, stunned.

"Did I miss someone's birthday?" She asked, confused.

"'Did-?' *ARGH!*" Gertrude flew right to Mayzie and pinned her to the trunk. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN...?"

"Gertrude!" Horton interrupted. "Easy, let's tell Mayzie the whole story calmly."

"Right, sorry..." Gertrude glared, calming down.

They told Mayzie everything, except for Gertrude and Horton becoming a couple since the rest of the jungle didn't know yet. Mayzie paled.

"Oh-no...oh Horton I am so sorry I completely forgot about my egg and you eggsitting!" Mayzie wailed, feeling horrible. "I was having so much fun that I even almost forgot about the jungle itself!"

"Well that doesn't change what we've been through." Gertrude frowned.

"But what we went through caused some good things to happen too." Horton added.

Gertrude softened, remembering.

"You're right Horton." She said. "Well Mayzie, despite you irresponsibly forgetting about your egg and causing a lot of misery for Horton and trouble for the rest of us...considering that Horton and I are together now I can forgive you."

"You mean...darling, you did it!" Mayzie hugged Gertrude. "Oh finally, what was it that won him over?"

Horton explained. Mayzie was more than surprised that Gertrude's new tail feathers repelled him rather than attracted him, but she let it go. Meanwhile, the animals who didn't know about Horton and Gertrude dropped their mouths open for a few seconds and then congratulated the new couple. Mayzie turned to Horton.

"Horton, since you have cared more for this egg than I ever could and as a thank you for forgiving me for al the trouble I caused you, I want you to keep the egg." She said.

"Thank you Mayzie, truthfully I have gotten attached to the little guy." Horton smiled.

Suddenly, the egg, which Cindy was holding again, started to shake and crack!

"It's hatching!" Cindy gasped, setting it down near Horton.

Everyone watched, almost paralyzed, as the egg continued hatching. When it was done...of all things to appear...it was a tiny elephant with red wings!

"An elephant-bird!" Jane gasped.

"But...but I can't raise a flying creature." Horton's heart dropped.

"And I can't raise anything part elephant." Mayzie added.

"What if Horton and I raised the elephant-bird together?" Gertrude suggested.

Everyone stared at her, not really surprised. It was more like they instantly knew what was coming and didn't want to miss it.

"I think that is a wonderful idea." Horton smiled. "But for it to work properly we would have be, well...mates." He blushed a little.

Gertrude beamed at him.

"Are you asking me...?" Gertrude tried not to cry (with happiness of course).

"If you will..."

Gertrude leapt and hugged his trunk.

"Of course I will." She said emotionally.

Horton returned the hug with the tip of his trunk and everyone cheered.

"Come here little...Morton." Horton said, extending his trunk to the elephant-bird.

"Morton?" Morton the mouse repeated.

"Morton Jr.." Horton nodded. "After his uncle Morton."

Morton looked touched at first, but then just shook his head amused.

Morton Jr. flew onto Horton's trunk.

"I'm your dad, Horton." Horton said; then he gestured to Gertrude. "This is Gertrude, you mom."

"Hello son." Gertrude smiled, affectionately petting him.

Morton Jr. chirped happily. It was an interesting chirp too, it was kinda like an elephant trumpet except it was squeaky.

The celebration continued. During it Rudy and Jane met Jess and Sandy. Jane and Sandy became good friends and Rudy and Jess instantly liked each other. In fact, in another few years, they would end up together.

Gertrude moved in with Horton, so she let Mayzie have her house since her original one was left behind. Horton, Morton Jr., and Gertrude made the happiest family anyone ever saw. In the future Morton Jr. would have some uncertainties about being part elephant and part bird, but even after hearing the story of Horton hatching him he never thought of Mayzie as his mother. He always considered Gertrude to be his mother and only thought of Mayzie as an aunt. This made sense, as Gertrude and Mayzie eventually became like sisters, especially after Mayzie learned to be a little more responsible.

And of course, you all already know of Jojo and Cindy's future, so there is nothing left to say except that Randy succeeded in protecting the jungle from circuses, and even ended up living there.


End file.
